"My plan [has] always been to create a life I don’t want to retire from."
+ hashtag vanlife, ADHD, and feeling... good? about money??
Hi and welcome to The Ladybird Purse, my weekly newsletter about women and money. I’m not a financial advisor and am in no way qualified to give financial advice. I’m just a girl who’s just watched an episode of Blown Away, but is too lazy to get up and turn the TV off.
Currently, I have very little money in the bank. But I feel surprisingly fine about it. I think being able to cover the move flicked a switch in my brain and I can finally, finally, see how money works for me.
I have enough to cover my bills right now. I’m hopeful that I can pay off the credit card debt I ran up because of the move (and grateful that I had that credit available). I’m also hopeful I can rebuild my savings. I’m putting away small amounts and not worrying that they’re small. Baby steps are still steps. I’m not fretting about spending and I’m not overspending.
I feel… relaxed. About money. I know. Me.
It’s taken a long time to get here. Two plus years of this newsletter and, you know, the rest of my life. And I’ve probably said similar to the above before and then something’s happened to throw me into panic mode again. But I don’t know. It feels different this time. I hope it’s different this time.
I really enjoyed this post by Poorna Bell about why we shouldn’t defer financially to the men in our lives.
I also found this Cait Flanders post really interesting. Like me, Cait is taking baby steps towards financial security.
Also, re pennies - did you know some people don’t bother with small change at all? Ages ago, someone told me that the teens from our nearest high school would just drop their change on the ground as they left the local newsagents. There was a hedge outside the shop and the ground underneath was a treasure trove of pennies, twos, fives, even twenty pees. (Do the youths not know you can save 20p pieces in Smarties tubes?)
My boys went for a walk a couple of nights ago and came back with a bunch of small change they’d found on the ground - the eldest is obsessed with checking the dates on coins - he gave it to me, and I must admit, my first thought was “What am I meant to do with that?”
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An interview with… Jo Hodson
Jo is a coach and designer who helps creative and wellness businesses share their mission with the world and create a life on their own terms. Jo blends life and work into her travels around the UK and Europe, living on the road in her self-built camper van.
Find her at www.createwellbeingltd.com or day to day on Instagram.
What is your relationship with money currently?
In a word, I would sum it up as ‘abstract’ and I find it to be quite a challenging relationship. Being completely honest, money has never really meant much to me. I struggle to ‘feel’ it and therefore I find it hard to care about making much of it - tricky when you are self-employed as I have been for the last 10 years.
Luckily, I don’t really care to spend much either so it has kind of balanced out! ;-)
In early 2020 I was diagnosed with ADHD and in the years since, I have been unpacking a lot of the subtle stories and ways I engage with and interact with the world around me. If I can’t get a feel for something I often struggle to make it matter to me, it just feels abstract - this has been a recent significant realisation when it comes to money and finances. It’s something I am now currently working on to create a better sense of connection with so that I can feel more empowered around it and excited to create more of it.
Can I ask how ADHD impacts your relationship with money?
The 'abstractness’ I described is a big part of it. I think that aspect also ties into 'object impermanence' which is a common ADHD symptom - if I can't see something I often forget it exists, so because money is mostly virtual, I find it hard to have a meaningful relationship with it.
I can also get really hung up on processes as my brain does not like to think in a linear fashion. For example, the simple concept of having a credit card feels so messy in my mind, as I can’t compute the logic of paying for something and the money not leaving my account straight away, as with a debit card, which feels straightforward. Of course I understand it intellectually, but the concept feels so messy and heavy I avoid it and keep everything as simple as possible.
I also have an accountant now which definitely helps things feel easier to keep on top of.
What’s your earliest money memory?
As a child my brother and I would do jobs around the house for extra pocket money and each job had a value. Washing up was 20p as was cleaning the windows, and I think doing a big load of ironing was about 50p! I used to love going to the corner shop at the weekend and buy a ’10p mix’ of 10 different lucky dip sweets… back in the days when you could get pin n’ mix sweets for a penny each!
What’s the biggest money mistake you’ve made?
I’m pretty conservative with spending. I haven’t really made many (if any) mistakes. The only thing that comes to mind is a 3-month group coaching programme I invested £3k into and got zero return. Looking back it was at a time I didn’t trust that I could forge ahead alone and I should have backed myself instead of looking to others for the answers.
What’s the best thing you’ve ever spent money on?
I would have to say converting my camper van.
During lockdown I bought a basic empty white Ford Transit and over the course of six months, self-converted it into a fully off-grid tiny home on wheels. I spent just over £6k on the van itself and then a similar amount kitting it all out.
I had no idea where it would take me (literally and metaphorically) but honestly it has changed my world and enabled me to embrace more of my authentic quirky self. Currently I am nomadic, living and working on the road across the UK and Europe.
‘Vanlife’ has allowed me to live an incredibly cheap lifestyle and this has been a huge factor in my relationship with my finances, taking the pressure off and allowing me to explore my relationship with money and how I can create it with greater freedom and curiosity beyond the realms of societal norms.
When I finally acknowledged how much I was struggling with my financial relationship coupled with increasing anxiety, I decided to totally flip the script. Instead of repeatedly trying (and failing) to go through the same steps trying to make more money I challenged myself to completely switch up my lifestyle so that I minimised the amount of money I needed to cover the basics.
When I took to the road in my camper van, it meant I had no mortgage or rent and virtually zero bills (gas costs me approximately £50 a year and my electric is powered by the sun so costs me nothing). I also began housesitting for people’s pets whilst they are away, so I combine travels in my van with living in people houses around the UK. The sits are all paid which largely offsets anything I might spend on campsites in between.
In effect, when it comes to my current cost of living… I have created a virtually net zero life which is incredibly freeing.
Do you have a pension? If not, do you have a plan?1
For many years I didn’t have a pension and avoided looking into it, but last year I finally gave into the pleas from my accountant and set one up simply to ‘tick the box’ if I am honest.
My plan had always been to create a life I don’t want to retire from. Yes, I know that sounds cliched but it’s my truth. However, I appreciate it’s useful to have something a little more solid in place too!
What would you do with £10,000?
My initial reaction to that question was to say, sell my current camper van and convert another - because I have so many more ideas for another tiny home on wheels. In the slightly longer term I want to buy land and build a trailer or shipping container tiny home so that I have something of a base to come back to. So second choice would be to put it aside towards that. My previous career, 10+ years ago now, was as an architect so I still have those skills itching to be put to use again!
If you were me, what would you want to ask women about money?
What does money mean to you, and how do you connect to that sense of meaning?
Related posts:
Reading this back, this pension question seems so boring and prosaic after the previous answer!
Those tiny bottles of aperativo from Lidl are amazing! Love the bravery of this interview too
Camper van life and shipping container base sounds like my kinda life!